Rotary beater



Aug.*11, 1942. B WATSON 2,292,679

ROTARY BEATER Filed July 22, 1940 INVENTOR:. BERYL WATSON A TTORNE YS.

Patented A'ug..1l, 1942 i I' ROTARY BEATER Beryl Watson,

Davenport, Iowa,

assignor to Deere & Company, Moline, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application July 22, 1940, Serial No. 346,715 7 claims. (01.130-22) The present invention relates generally to agricultural machines and more particularly to rotary beaters of the type commonly used in threshing mechanism, with particular reference to the beater or separating cylinder which is commonly provided behind the threshing cylinder for stripping straw or other harvested material from the threshing cylinder and passing it rearwardly upon the separating mechanism, although I do not intend my invention to be limited to this particular unit. Separating cylinders or rotary beaters of this type are generally provided with a plurality of radially outwardly extending spikes or teeth which engage the straw or vines tending to adhere to the threshing cylinder, for the purpose of stripping such harvested material therefrom. Although most crops require the aggressive stripping action provided by such spikes or teeth, there are other crops which are not as successfully handled by this type of a beater because of their inherent tendency to wrap around and cling to the teeth or spikes and are not readily detached therefrom by the centrifugal action of the rotating cylinder, but require the machine to be shut down more or less frequently for the purpose of dislodging and cleaning the harvested material from the separating cylinder. This operation must be done by hand and under certain conditions results in a considerable amount of lost time.

It is the principal object, therefore, of the present invention, to provide a beater with detachable shielding means for covering the teeth or spikes for use under such crop conditions in which the harvested material tends to cling to the teeth, but which can be removed when the machine is operating under more normal crop conditions and where maximum aggressive action is necessary.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent after a consideration of the following description in which reference is had to the drawing appended hereto, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view of a threshing mechanism showing a separating cylinder or rotary beater in which the stripping teeth or spikes are bare for a maximum aggressive stripping action;

Figure 2 is a perspective View of a rotary beater in which the stripping teeth are shielded according to the principles of the present invention to prevent wrapping of the harvested material;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of one end of the beater drawn to an enlarged scale and showing the details of one of the shielding bars and its means for attaching to the cylinder;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side view of one of the shielding bars; and

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation taken along a line 5-5 in Figure 4.

Referring now to the drawing, the threshing mechanism comprises a conventional threshing cylinder III and threshing concave II disposed in cooperative threshing relation thereto. The threshing cylinder I0 is rotatively mounted on a supporting shaft I2 which is carried in suitable bearings (not shown). The crop is fed to the threshing cylinder upon an endless conveyor I3 of any suitable design, which is trained around a roller I4. An upper conveyor I5 trained around a roller I 6 assists in feeding the harvested material to the threshing cylinder I0. The grain is threshed from the straw by the action of threshing bars I'I of the threshing cylinder I0 after which the grain and straw are thrown rearwardly over thev grate I8 upon the straw rack I9 which functions in a conventional manner in separating the grain from the straW. Behind the threshing cylinder IIl and above the grate I8 is disposed a separating cylinder or rotary beater 25, comprising a sheet metal cylinder 26 carried on a suitable supporting shaft 2'I by means of suitable spiders 28. The supporting shaft 21 is journaled in suitable bearings (not shown) and the beater is driven in the same direction of rotation as that of the threshing cylinder I0.

The rotary beater 25 is provided with a, plurality of radially outwardly extending teeth or spikes 29 arranged in a plurality of axially extending circumferentially spaced rows on the surface of the cylinder 26. Each of the rows of teeth 29 is supported on a structural channel member 30 which is fixed by any suitable means, such as rivets or welding, to the inner surfaces of the sheet metal cylinder 26. 'Ihe teeth 29 are rigidly fixed to the channel members 30 by inserting their inner ends through apertures 3| in the channel members and then riveting the inner ends of the teeth, as indicated at 32. Each Vtooth is provided with a collar or shoulder 33 formed integral therewith which abuts against the opposite surface of the channel 3D. The sheet metal cylinder 26 is provided with apertures 34 through which the teeth 29 are inserted, they apertures being large enough to receive the integrally formed shoulders 33, as indicated in Figure 5.

The rotation of the threshing cylinder IIJ and stripping cylinder 25 are such that the teeth 29 on the cylinder 25 move downwardly adjacent the upwardly moving threshing bars l1 on the threshing cylinder ID, thereby tending to strip straw and other harvested material from the threshing cylinder. As explained hereinbefore, under most crop conditions the centrifugal force of the stripping cylinder 25 is suiicient to throw the harvested material 01T the spikes 29 rearwardly over the separator I9, but under certain crop conditions the harvested material tends to cling to the teeth 29 and become wrapped thereon in such manner that the material is not thrown away from the stripping cylinder. .'In accordance with the principles of the present invention, to remedy this condition, lI havegrprovided a shielding member for each row of teeth in the form of a long bar 36, preferably made of wood of substantially triangular cross section. Each bar 36 is laid upon the cylinder V26A and generally parallel to the axis of rotation thereof, and is providedfwith a series of radially outwardly extending recesses or apertures :3l

adapted to receive the several teeth-29. The triangular form of the bar36 'providesa pair of outwardly converging side Vsurfaces T38, which intersect outwardly of the ends-of the teeth 29 to form an outer edge 39 at the`apex thereof, thus completely shielding the spikes and preventing 'wrapping of the harvested 'material thereon, 'whilel preservinga certain 'famount' of stripping action for clearing' the threshed material away from in back of the'threshing cylinder. The

-under side -of the vshielding bar 35Y is grooved,

as at4, tov avoid interferencewith the shoulders 33 on thespikes 29.

-The shielding bars'f areA secured to the sheet metal cylinder-26 by'm'eans of strap members4| which straddle the bars at several axially spaced points on each bar. The outeredge of the bar v36 is notchedto formrecesses '42'through which the strap members 4| extendand' theserecesses 42 are located to register withcertain of the apertures 3l through which certain of the teeth 29 project, thus 'exposing the outer ends of such teethat' these locations. The'strap members 4I are -apertured 4to receive the ends vof the Ateeth .and thus bracing'the bars4 against movement inany directionon the surface ofy the cylinder. Thef ends of the strap members 4| are bent to ylieat upon the surface =of the cylinder 2S and are-apertured to receive-'securing bolts lllwhich extend therethrough-and through aligned apertures in the'cylinder 26. Threaded nuts 41 are welded upon the insidefsurface'iof the cylinder at the bolt apertures and thus provide means for rmly securing the strapmembers to the cylinder,

without theY necessity of reaching into the cylinder to fit the nuts on the boltsvduring assembly.

The shielding bars 36 provide longitudinally vextending ribs on the stripping' cylinder, which have proved Yto be'very efectivevin threshing certainl cropssuch as, for example, `soyY beans and'flax, for in such crops the ribs are sufficiently aggressive to clear the cylinder but provide no projection upon which the crop can wrap.

I claim:

1. Shielding `means for a rotary beater comprising a shaft having a row of ,outwardly extending crop engaging teethv supported thereon, said means comprising an axially disposednarrow shield bar adapted to be detachably supported on said beater and apertured to receive said row of teeth for shielding the latter when working in certain crops to prevent wrapping of the stalks on said teeth, said bar projecting radially outwardly to serve as a paddle.

2. Shielding means for a rotary beater comprising a shaft having a cylindrical rotor supported thereon, and at least one row of crop engaging teeth disposed axially of said cylindrical rotor projecting outwardly therefrom, said means comprising an axially extending narrow .shield bar removably attachable to said cylindrical rotor over said row of teeth, said bar being recessed to receive said teeth to prevent thecrop from wrapping thereon and adapted to project outwardly of the cylindrical rotor to serve and having recesses adapted to receive'one of said rows' of teeth.

4. Shielding means Vfor a rotary beater having arrow of crop'engagingspikes projecting radially outwardly therefrom for use in certain crops, said fmeans comprising a 'wooden shield bar ofgenerally triangular cross section adapted to be removably attachedtosaid beater and :having longitudinally spaced recesses therein to receivesaid spikes tQprevent-wrappingwhen treating certain otllencrops-and vfurtherserveas crop engageable paddles.

' 5.Foruse with av rotary .beater comprising a cylinder-havinga supporting shaft thereforand a crop engaging spikelprojecting outwardly'from said. cylinder for use in certain crops, a.shield ing member for preventing `wrapping of crops onV said spike foruse in certain other crops comprising ayperipherally narrowblock having. a recess for receiving and embracing said spike while exposing the majority of the surface of .said cylinder, and means for detachably 'xing said block to said cylinder.

6. For use with a rotary beater comprising a cylinderf having a supporting shaft and, at least one axially extending row of crop engaging teeth xed on said cylinder, an axially extending nar- 'row shield bar serving as a paddle while ex- Ifixed on said cylinder,anA axiallyv extending shield barhaving longitudinally spaced holes therein -for receiving said teeth, said bar `being recessed to'expose the outer ends of certain of said teeth, strap members straddling said bar at saidrecessed portions and having apertures for engaging said exposed ends of the teeth; and means for vattaching said strap members to said cylinder.

BERYL WATSON. 

